ERROR 404
Tina Gifford
The Quickonnect tech looked at the man hanging in front of him. He swayed slightly from the light fixture, his feet tracing small circles in the air a few inches above the floor.
Janie poked her head around the corner, “Cam, did you order…holy shit!”
“Yeah,” Cam replied, massaging his temples. He really didn’t have time to deal with this today.
“Ugh,” Janie said, wrinkling her nose, “I’m glad this is your room to clean today. But, at least he didn’t make a mess of the pod.” She took a step closer and snorted, “Are those naked Santas on his tie?”
“Help me cut this guy down. I want the room ready to use in an hour.”
*****
Jack looked into the vanity mirror. His worn face looked back at him, the creases in his skin even deeper after his restless night. “Damn, you're old,” he told the reflection. He stepped out of the bathroom, the thick carpet muffling his footsteps. He planted a soft kiss on the temple of his sleeping wife. Anora still looked like she had ten years ago since she hadn’t had an aging update for some time now. He could request a total reconfiguration if he wanted her to age at a more steady pace, but he knew that could mess up the personality functions and he couldn’t do that to Anora. He glanced at the clock. Late again. He tapped his temple twice.
Jack felt the jolt of the awakening. He pulled the headset off and detached the feeding tube connector. The outside light stabbed at his eyes painfully, but he didn’t have time for the adjustment period; he sniffed the air, or a shower for that matter. He yanked the monitor cuff from his arm and stumbled out of the pod. Quickly snatching a tie from the wardrobe in his office, he made his way into the hall. He caught his reflection in the glass walls and noted how terrible he looked. Not only that, but the tie he’d thrown around his neck was the one Tom had given him for Christmas as a joke. Feeling ridiculous, he opened the door to the conference room; which seemed to be in chaos, and sat next to Tom.
“God,” Jack mumbled quietly. “I picked the worst day to be late with Mr. Caverly.”
Tom’s ashen face turned. “They’re shutting us down, Jack. Everything’s being disconnected in two weeks.”
“What?” Jack felt his stomach hit the floor. His hands felt cold as he tried to process what Tom had said. He looked desperately around the table, his gaze landing on Mr. Caverly. A pressure filled Jack's breast, pushing words out with explosive force, “Two weeks?”
The room fell silent.
Mr. Caverly turned to face him, his expression cool and indifferent.
“You can’t— I support three A.I.’s— my family—” the words tumbled out clumsily as they tried to move past the rising panic. Horror stories he’d heard of entire families being deleted ran through his mind.
“Two weeks is plenty of time to have your insurance secure your Inworld file.”
“I don’t have— I mean, insurance is so expensive and—”
“I would say that that’s a huge oversight on your part, and not my concern.” said Mr. Caverly dismissively. Jack rose from his seat. He crossed the room in a few strides and grasped Mr. Caverly’s arm.
“But, they’ll be wiped! You can’t— you can’t play god with people’s lives!” He screamed, spit flying. He knew he looked maniacal; he felt it.
Mr. Caverly rose from his chair slowly, his stare murderous. “God? Who chose to activate them and determined their parameters? You’re the one playing ‘God’. This isn’t a charitable organization. If your Inworld expires, that’s on you.” He shook Jack’s hand off, “Plus, it’s not like they’re real...”
Jack’s rage consumed him. Lunging for Mr. Caverly’s throat, he thought of his son, Matty. He thought of his freckled nose and love of rocks. As his hands tightened, causing Mr. Caverly’s face to turn purple, he thought of Evie. Of her dimpled elbows and chubby, baby thighs. As security pulled him off of Mr. Caverly and away, he thought of Anora, and how her eyes crinkled when she laughed. As he was thrown to the ground outside, the asphalt sharply greeting his palms, he thought of himself and how he was nothing without them.
*****
Jack awoke slowly feeling groggy and disoriented, the previous week blurring in his mind. What day was it? How many days had he been wandering the streets? His muscles screamed at him as he shifted on the concrete and his scalp itched through his matted hair. An old woman poked him with a stick.
“You’re in my spot,” she said, her teeth yellow and rotted in her mouth, “those credits should be mine—” Confused, Jack slowly raised his head. There were a few credits in the dirt in front of him. He grabbed for them, silently thanking whomever had left them. He didn’t know how much time in a pod the credits would get him at the QuickKonnect around the corner, but he would take anything. It’d been too long since he’d been home. He’d tried to go back to the office, to ask Tom for help, but had been chased off by the police. The streets weren’t any better as those he met pushed him away refusing to acknowledge his humanity.
The crone held out a gnarled hand, “Give them here!”
“I’m sorry— I can’t—” Jack said, jumping to his feet. He ran down the street feeling the first twinges of hope stir in his chest. Maybe it wasn’t too late.
*****
“The coroner just left,” Janie said.
Cam nodded as he continued his meticulous work, the sharp scent of the disinfectant causing his nose to tingle, “I wonder why he did this.”
Janie shrugged her shoulders as she pointed at the headset dangling by the side of the pod, a red glow indicating that it was on. “If you really want to know, his Inworld’s still connected.” She turned and left the room.
Curiosity overtaking him, Cam reached out and pulled the headset over his eyes. The black letters against the red background felt harsh, but what the words said made him shudder; ERROR 404: JACK CARTER: INWORLD FILE NOT FOUND.